


Dog Days Are Over

by Anonymous



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Basically all of vox machina is in this but not heavily, F/F, First Kiss, Flirting, Fluff, God help these absolute idiots, Implied Sexual Content, Pining, Psychological Trauma, Violence, cassandra: takes a dagger for trinket, i guess, keyleth/vax (mentioned), kind of a no chroma conclave situation, no idea when this is set, please tell me I'm not alone in shipping this, poor cass, vex: wife me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-29
Updated: 2019-08-29
Packaged: 2020-09-24 19:24:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20363815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Cassandra knows three things after a month or so of living amongst the members of Vox Machina: One, under it all, deny it as they may, they all have good, kind hearts. Two, they care for each other deeply, even though they may not see eye to eye all the time. Three, Vex'ahlia has completely and utterly stolen her heart right out of her chest.She hasn't a clue what she's going to do about the third one.





	Dog Days Are Over

**Author's Note:**

> This is the result of me both desperately wanting to be Vex's bitch AND Cassandra's bitch. I had a galaxy brain moment and declared that they are EACHOTHER'S bitch.
> 
> Now, I'll ride this ship train till I die under its wheels. 
> 
> SIDENOTES:  
\- If both Cassandra and Percy are with Vox Machina who is watching over Whitestone, you ask? No idea. Assume it's someone really awesome. Pick your fave NPC.  
\- I have no actual idea how to shoot a bow, feel free to correct me if I fuck up on that stuff or anything else  
\- This is an AU where the dragons never come fuck shit up but Vex still steals the broom from someone okay  
\- I probably didn't edit this as much as I should have
> 
> Hope you all enjoy :)!

Delilah tugs on her hair with a comb, brushing it up into an updo. Cassandra eyes her in the vanity mirror, watching as she rakes locks of brown into a bun. The room has been silent for an extended amount of minutes now, the only noise being that of faint footsteps coming from somewhere far beyond the walls of this room.

Delilah catches her gaze in the mirror and puts on a smile that doesn't quite reach her eyes. Cassandra doesn't return it.

"You are beautiful, Cassandra," She says, resting a hand on her shoulder. Cassandra feels a tingling in her chest. "Any man would be an absolutely _lucky_ suitor."

She doesn't know what parts of Delilah's charms are real or magic anymore. It gets harder to decipher the more time goes on. Regardless, it works. Cassandra's lips tug up into a small, somber smile. 

"What if...What if I would like to be with a girl instead?" She asks, voice just above a whisper.

Delilah stands from her chair and motions for Cassandra to stand along with her. She motions with her finger to do a twirl. She does so. Delilah nods approvingly. 

"Well, with that hairdo any woman would jump at the chance, dear." 

Cassandra looks quickly in the mirror, filled with hope, and immediately deflates. She sees a girl she doesn't recognize, noticing the streaks of white beginning to grow from her roots. She reaches her fingers up to gently stroke it. There are heavy bags under her eyes. Tears start to stream down her cheeks. She rips out the hair pins and watches as her hair tumbles back over her shoulders. The pins clatter onto the floor at their feet. Silence falls into the room.

"You are ungrateful, child," Delilah spits suddenly, turning on her heel and exiting the room. Cassandra hears the soft click of a lock on the other side. Despite it being her captor, she feels pain in her heart at the sound of her leaving. Loneliness plagues her as she crawls back to her bed, hugging her knees close to her chest.

She prays to whatever god could be listening that the woman she was meant to be with will love her even after all this. That she'll love her even with her white streaks that may very well take over the entirety of her hair. That she'll love Cassandra for being exactly who she is and nothing else. She finally lulls herself to sleep with visions of a future that she knows she'll never have. 

* * *

Sylas falls and so does Delilah. 

Percy asks her to come with him and his friends after a few more days spent cleaning up Whitestone. The words ring in her ears as she looks away from his pleading eyes and glances hazily at Whitestone Castle behind her. The tall walls of the structure, both her home and her prison, stare back at her. 

"Could I ever leave this place, really?" She finally responds, words turning into a fog as they leave her lips. "Most of my first family was killed here. My second one was too, though they deserved it. I should die here with them for I deserve it as well. It's my penance."

He frowns.

"We can be a family if you wanted. You, me, a goliath, two gnomes, a rather sly set of twins. It's not the most traditional and we don't always exactly _like_ eachother but we always love eachother," Percy says with a small, sad smile. "We've had our ups and downs but they mean everything to me."

She looks at the group clustered behind him and catches them all staring. They all quickly avert their gaze. They are an odd bunch just by appearances alone. Though, she finds it quite charming, and not in the false arcane way Delilah's was always utilizing. 

"I know," She says, returning her attention to her brother. "And I want nothing more than to leave this place, believe me. I want to see the world more than anything. But I'm afraid I don't deserve them or you, Percy."

He ponders this for a moment, running his hand through his tousled hair.

"It isn't about who deserves who," He finally says, suddenly sure of himself. "It's about the fact I finally have my little sister back. I did, very regretfully, leave you in the snow that day. And you left me, too. Your betrayal isn't exactly forgiven nor forgotten but we can't go the rest of our lives punishing ourselves."

Cassandra feels the tears begin to well in her eyes as she chances another look at the group. They are all pretending to not be listening in, looking anywhere but at her. Except for the ranger, notably, who is eyeing her intently back, cold as the slowly falling snowflakes. She raises an eyebrow at Cassandra. 

She takes a deep, shaky breath, filling her lungs fully before responding to her brother. 

"I hope they, and you, grow to forgive me. I wouldn't want the big one to wack me when I wasn't looking. It quite hurts."

"Does that mean you'll come with us?"

She smiles up at her brother and into his hopeful eyes.

"I would be honored."

* * *

Trust is an uphill battle, Cassandra finds. For the first week or so the only people who speak to her outside of necessity is Pike, Scanlan and her own brother. She does not blame the others for their wariness, she wouldn't trust herself either. She fights along side them whenever battles come but she notices that there is always Trinket watching her intently from behind.

Keyleth comes around a bit after the second week but never seems to know what to say. Then Grog after that who asks her what the word 'conscious' means. Vax has talked to her a few times but always abruptly walks away. Percy has assured her it wasn't anything she said. 

Vex though seems unwavering. By extension, so is Trinket, who always growls a little when she passes. Percy insists that Vex will warm up to her eventually, that she is just untrusting of people in general. Cassandra tries to believe him.

The first time Vex talks to her outside combat or other life and death scenarios, it's about her fourth week of staying with the group. She honestly never thought she'd stick around this long, certain they would change their minds and ship her off back to Whitestone by now. But here she is.

The ranger walks into Percy's workshop where Cassandra sits alone, examining the metal of her rapier.

"Percy isn't here," Cassandra is quick to inform, turning her attention hastily back to cleaning her sword. When she doesn't hear Vex walk away, she looks back up. 

"No, I know. I was looking for you, actually."

"Oh," Cassandra's eyebrows draw together. She tries to not let her stupendous surprise show on her face. 

"We're having drinks upstairs," Vex says simply.

Cassandra nods, waiting for a further explanation. Is this an invitation? A warning? 

Vex doesn't elaborate though, instead turning on her heel and walking away.

After a few minutes of contemplation, Cassandra joins them. Ale is quickly ushered into her hand wordlessly by the ranger. 

It's a start, at least, Cassandra thinks.

* * *

The assassins come from nowhere, assumingly haven been hiding within the tall trees. Arrows and daggers and spells are all firing within a matter of seconds. Cassandra draws her rapier and scans the group of ambushers. She counts six, but things are moving too quickly to know for sure.

She begins stepping towards a sword-wielder when she notices out of the corner of her eye another assassin hidden in the bushes across the clearing. He has two daggers in his hands. He sends one hurtling towards Grog who deflects it easily enough. 

Cassandra follows the hidden assasin's gaze as he shifts his attention in her direction. She looks to her right, where Trinket stands, wobbly. The poor bear has already taken quite a bit of hits it seems. His head is bowed and looking at his paws. She can hear the labor of his breath.

Time slows as the dagger leaves the assasin's hands and goes racing through the air towards the wounded bear. Cassandra briefly locks eyes with Vex, who is now looking in Trinket's direction, worry settling quickly across her delicate features.

With that, Cassandra doesn't even think twice. She runs in front of Trinket in a defensive pose. 

The dagger slams into her stomach. The air in her lungs deflates quickly. She stumbles backwards before falling onto her back. Cassandra groans lifting her head off the dirt. Blood pools across her white blouse and into her hands as she clutches her stomach. Without thinking, she pulls the dagger out and flings it to the side.

She has seen her own blood before, once while lying in the snow after arrows entered her chest, many times around Sylas's mouth. But she never remembers seeing so much as it floods from her. Her fingers clamp over the gash.

The pain comes next, sharp and aching all at the same time. The noise of battle dulls as she rests her head back against the Earth, looking up through squinted eyes into the bright blue sky.

She feels the touch of another person at her side. She looks hazily at the figure. She recognizes it as Vex, who is holding her hands over Cassandra's own. She hears Vex's voice calling for Pike but the words sound distant.

Vex is looking at her now and her lips are moving but Cassandra can't make anything out. The only thing Cassandra is able to notice is that Vex is absolutely gorgeous as the sun shines down onto her skin and raven hair. She almost tells her so, but sleepiness crawls up her quickly.

Cassandra's eyes start to feel much too heavy. Truthfully, she's just happy she gets to die with such a pretty final sight.

"Stay awake, Cassandra."

It's the first sentence she's able to hear. With strain, she opens her eyes. Her vision is quite blurry now, the edges foggy.

"There's another one...in the bushes...he went for Trinket...you have to get him," Cassandra finds its even harder to speak than it is to stay awake. The pain has subsided and the fatigue has taken its place which she is certain is a bad sign.

"He already has an arrow right between his eyes, darling."

Cassandra's lips tugs up, she can taste the blood in her mouth.

She can't keep her eyes open any longer but she can hear her brother's worried voice and she can hear Pike's divine whispers. 

When she does open her eyes again, she's met with the sight of Trinket nudging her face. A cold nose rubs against her cheeks. She gives him a few pats as he towers over her.

"Give her some breathing room, Trinket," Vex calls from somewhere behind her. The bear gives her a last nuzzle before backing away.

Pike is kneeled beside her, smiling warmly.

"Kinda gave us a scare for a minute, Cass," Pike greets with bright eyes, laughing lightly.

Cassandra looks down at her stomach, the only sign that a dagger was ever there is in the gash still in her shirt. It's then she notices her brother who is kneeled at the other side of her.

"Quite," Percy agrees with a relieved breath leaving his lips. 

"I'm alright, Percy."

"Yes, well, I'm glad. Next time, please god wear some chest armor."

"I will, I swear."

Percy helps her to her feet. They are still in the clearing in the woods where they were ambushed. The dead bodies of assassins litter the short grass. 

Percy busies himself with examining the limp bodies. Pike excuses herself too and wanders over to Scanlan, leaving Cassandra standing alone. She feels around inside the gash in her shirt, searching for a scar, any evidence at all that she was ever near death, but the skin under her fingertips are unscathed. 

When she looks up, she notices Vex starting to approach her. She ignores the completely stupid racing of her heart.

The ranger stops a few feet in front of her. Cassandra glances over the woman who's demeanor is so unlike what it usually is. Vex, who is always so confident, seems unsure now as she plays with her own hands and avoids Cassandra's eyes.

"How are you feeling?" Vex asks, finally making eye contact. Though Cassandra's been living with Vox Machina for awhile, looking up at the ranger now, she is just noticing the beauty in Vex'ahlia's hazel eyes.

"Not unlike how I usually do," Cassandra answers truthfully. "A bit exhausted."

"I could imagine."

Neither of them speak or move for a good moment before Vex lunges forward, embracing Cassandra in a hug. 

Cassandra, caught off guard, nearly collapses. Awkwardly, she wraps her arms around Vex in return. A warmth blossoms in her chest she hasn't felt in years. 

"Thank you," Vex murmurs. "For saving Trinket, I mean."

Vex pulls away and steps back, eyes shining.

"He's worth a little dagger wound."

For the first time since they've met, Vex smiles at her. And something new blossoms inside Cassandra's chest. 

* * *

They are walking down the street when Cassandra sees it. It sticks out vibrantly against the cobblestone path. She bends down and plucks it from in between the cracks in the ground. 

The dark blue feather shines in the sunlight, gleaming softly. If closely examined, you could see specks of black. She runs a finger down it, watching them bend before bouncing back into place. 

She catches up to Vex a moment later, appearing at her side.

"I found this on the ground. You like feathers, don't you?"

The second Vex looks her way, she gasps. Quick hands snatch it from Cassandra grasp and Vex holds it in front of her face.

"It's beautiful! Thank you, Cassandra," Vex quickly puts it into her hair. "How do I look?" 

"Radiant," Cassandra replies instantly.

The elf smirks and places a kiss to Cassandra's cheek before scurrying off towards Vax, pointing excitedly to her hair.

Cassandra, now beet-red, follows behind.

* * *

Cassandra knows three things after a month or so of living amongst the members of Vox Machina: One, under it all, deny it as they may, they all have good, kind hearts. Two, they care for each other deeply, even though they may not see eye to eye all the time. Three, Vex'ahlia has completely and utterly stolen her heart right out of her chest.

She hasn't a clue what she's going to do about the third one. She's never officially courted anyone before, nor has she been courted herself. She's positive she wouldn't be good at it, let alone good enough to get Vex's attention. 

Cassandra looks on at the group from her place leaning against a thick tree, eyes falling on Vex, who is cooing at Trinket. They've just finished battling with a pair of zombies in the woods near Emon. She's grown to enjoy battles immensely, and for no other reason than to watch Vex shoot. There isn't a more beautiful sight on the planet than Vex'ahlia's victory smirk.

Suddenly from behind her there is a large snapping sound. The crunch of a broken branch.

"Cass, look out!" Percy calls to her suddenly, desperately wrestling for his gun.

Snapping out of her thoughts, she flips around. Another undead creature steps towards her, one they must have initially missed. The creature is too close for her to react in time. Raising up the hammer clasped in his decaying hand, the creature begins to bring it down over Cassandra's head.

Just as the hammer is about to connect with her skull, an arrow whizzes past her, fast wind grazing her cheek. The arrow slams into the creature's eye and sends it flying back, where it collapses unmoving onto the forest floor. Cassandra's chest heaves as she turns back around to face the group. 

Vex is already at her side, bow still at the ready. 

"Are you alright, darling?" 

"Yes, I think so. Thank you," Cassandra says, looking into worried eyes, heart pounding in her ears. 

Vex, without warning, brings her hand up to Cassandra's cheek and rubs off some of the zombie's blood. Cassandra inhales a sharp breath as a result. Mortifingly, Vex almost definitely notices with a wry smile spreading across her features. 

"Yes, well," Vex begins, leaning over into her ear as she begins to walk past, "I couldn't let anything happen to your beautiful face, could I now?"

Cassandra's heart pounds for a new reason now and she can feel a familiar heat rising to her face but Vex is already behind her, examining the zombie's body. Percy is the next to check on her a few moments later who she reassures a thousand or so times that she is alright. His constant concern both warms her and irks her.

"It's a good thing Vex is quick on her feet with you always having your head in the clouds," He chastizes lightly, tapping her on the forehead. 

"I have a question," She says hesitantly.

"And I hopefully have an answer."

She looks over at Vex, who is chatting with her twin. The ranger laughs at something Vax says and pushes him on the shoulder lightly.

"How do you...court someone?"

Percy follows her gaze over to the twins and widens his eyes at her.

"Cassandra, I'm afraid Vax is involved with Keyleth."

She rolls her eyes at the assumption. 

"For being so clever, you really are daft," She says, turning her attention back to him.

"What? Have they broken up?" 

"Percy, I'm talking about Vex!" She raises her voice more than she intends to and cringes as a familiar form looks to them and wanders over, appearing next to Percy.

"What about me?" Vex greets, interested.

Percy looks between Vex and Cassandra in realization and mouths a silent '_Oh' _to her. 

Cassandra tries to stammer for a response but Percy, thankfully speaks up for her.

"She was just talking about how lucky she was that you were there to save her," Percy jumps in. He thinks for a moment before adding, with a smirk on his face, "And she'd _love _for you to teach her how to shoot sometime."

Cassandra gapes at him, momentary relief vanishing. 

"Oh well, of course, Darling," Vex grins at Cassandra. "I would love to. It'll be fun, just us girls." 

Vex winks at her before walking towards Trinket.

"You're welcome," He smiles, squeezing her shoulder. 

When they return to the keep, Vex is eager to take Cassandra for her lesson. She follows Vex back into the woods, admiring how at home the woman in front of her looks amoungst the trees. They reach a small clearing, where Vex has already set up a make-shift target. 

She is absolutely transfixed as Vex shoots a few practice shots at the target. The way Vex stares down the target, and with a quick breath, skillfully draws and releases a few arrows with deft fingers. Each flies into the bullseye with a thump. Cassandra holds back the urge to clap. Vex smiles to herself before removing the arrows.

"Your turn," Vex announces, motioning for her to come closer. 

Cassandra joins Vex in the middle of the clearing and takes the offered bow.

"Do you know how to hold a bow?"

"I think I remember. My father had me shoot his bow a few times," Cassandra leaves out the _and I have intently watched you do it more times than I can count. _She carefully nocks an arrow. "Like this?"

Vex nods approvingly with a small smile. Cassandra smiles too, her heart fluttering. Vex disappears behind her.

Cassandra is just about to turn to face her but two arms wrap around her form. A boot in between her legs nudge her feet apart.

"Your feet should be about shoulder-width," Vex says before adjusting Cassandra's frame. She forgets how to breathe as Vex's hands find Cassandra's and maneuver them into a correct pose. 

"Relax. The bow can feel your nerves," Vex jests, stepping to the side of her. Cassandra almost admits that it isn't the bow making her nervous but bites her tongue. Vex is playfully flirty with everyone. She shouldn't make it something it isn't. Cassandra doesn't think she'd live through the embarrassment of being rejected.

Cassandra pulls the arrow back and tries to aim it at the target but it goes flying way off to the right, disapearing into the trees. 

Vex comes to adjust her pose again, and Cassandra pulls back the arrow once more.

"Try shooting while holding your breath. Inhale, shoot, exhale."

Cassandra inhales and releases. The arrow hits the very edge of the target. She exhales. It's nowhere near a bullseye, nor a good shot at all by any means, but it's improvement, she supposes.

"See, you're a natural."

They keep going for an hour or so, Cassandra gets pretty close to the center a couple times so Vex dubs herself 'best teacher ever'. Cassandra is more than happy to agree.

* * *

Vex has a flying broom. It's wonderful. Cassandra stands by the rest of Vox Machina, watching as she does twirls in the air, beaming brightly.

Percy runs a stressed hand through his hair.

"Be careful. I don't know how well what I've made works yet-" 

"Percival, it works fine," Vex calls back, making a show of doing no hands.

Percy runs his hands down his face.

"Vex, can I have a lift?" Cassandra calls, waving her down. 

Vex lands next to her and pats the broom, grinning. "Of course."

Cassandra quickly hops on, wrapping her arms around Vex's waist.

"Vex'ahlia, don't you dare-" Percy warns, running towards them, but they are already lifting off the ground.

Cassandra laughs as Vex does a twirl. She hears Percy screaming at them but can't quite decipher the words. She dares a look to the ground, where the other members of Vox Machina look so tiny. She grips Vex's waist tighter, shoving her face into the ranger's back. Maybe this wasn't thought out properly. 

She feels Vex chuckle in front of her.

"It's alright, I won't let you fall. Percy is just dramatic." 

"And you aren't?" 

Vex gasps.

"Well, when I do it, it's classy."

Cassandra only hums, chancing another look around. It's beautiful, though nerve-wracking. Much like Vex'ahlia herself. She winces again as she looks down to the Earth beneath her, tightening her grip on Vex once more.

This time, she feels one of Vex's hands cover her own.

* * *

They are sitting outside together on the edge of the forest. Cassandra, after awhile of Vex pleading, allows her to braid her hair. Vex fingers brush through her hair, scraping her scalp. 

"Do you want it to the side or straight down?" Vex asks. The question catches her off guard. Maybe because Delilah never asked how she wanted her hair. 

"Straight down," Cassandra decides after a moment. Vex slowly and carefully twirls her hair. They sit there in silence for awhile. The birds chirp up above. 

"All done," Vex announces, shifting to be in front of Cassandra. "If you don't like it I can fix it."

Vex holds up the mirror. And when she looks in the reflection she sees herself, a version she hasn't seen in a long time. She sees herself happy, with a light in her eyes that hasn't shown since the day the Briarwoods had taken over.

"No, it's lovely," Cassandra says and means it. 

Vex sets the mirror down and looks Cassandra over. 

Cassandra's heart leaps to her throat as Vex slowly reaches out a hand and touches a lock of hair outside of the braid.

"Your hair is beautiful." 

Cassandra swallows a hard lump as gentle fingertips graze her cheeks. 

Vex bites her lip and Cassandra can't help but watch. Their proximity just now dawning down on her. Vex catches her, and Cassandra briefly thinks about making a run for it right then and there. She has some lame excuse about a forgotten training session at the ready. But she feels pinned under Vex's gaze.

The ranger smiles warmly and shuffles a bit forward. She can feel her stomach doing flips inside her. Vex brings her other hand to cup Cassandra's cheek. Cassandra stops breathing.

"You're beautiful, Cass," Vex says, slowly leaning in.

And Cassandra, eyes glassy, believes her. 

She meets Vex half way with haste. Despite this, she still gasps softly when their lips meet. Vex's lips are impossibly soft and Cassandra already is addicted to the feeling. She wraps her arms around Vex's waist. 

Vex deepens the kiss, tongue swiping across Cassandra's bottom lip. She lets out a small moan as Vex pulls their bodies closer together. Desire suddenly pools low in her gut. 

Vex pushes Cassandra gently backwards onto her back and follows her, positioning herself inbetween her legs. Vex kisses at the corner of her mouth and kisses along her jaw. Her teeth graze along her neck and then kisses at her collarbone. Cassandra whimpers, grinding lightly up into Vex. Vex, in turn groans.

"Oh gods, you're stunning," Vex breathes. Cassandra begins to tell Vex that she is too but the words die in her throat as Vex reconnects their lips. Vex's hand trails up the side of her legs and up her sides. She feels Vex fumble for buttons of her blouse before pausing and pulling away.

"Is this alright?" Vex asks tentatively, peering into her soul.

Cassandra looks up into patient, hazel eyes and is overcome with the realization that she'd found her. Found the woman she'd always dreamed about while imprisoned by Delilah and Sylas. The woman she'd cried herself to sleep thinking about, hoping for her to come rescue her. And she has rescued her. The future she made up for herself then was actually visible now. 

She didn't realize she had begun to cry until Vex's face was ridden with worry. A deep frown settling avross her face.

"Darling, what's wrong? If this isn't what you want that's perfectly alright, dear, really-"

Cassandra smiles up at her.

"It's everything I've always wanted, actually."

Vex breathes a sigh of relief and Cassandra drags her back down for a kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> If the spirit moves you, please leave a comment saying what you thought! I would love to hear it. No pressure though.
> 
> Thanks for reading :)!


End file.
